The junior competition of the Cadet and Junior Pan American Championships got underway yesterday in Havana, Cuba with women’s epee, men’s foil and women’s sabre in action in individual competition.

The Canadian women’s epee athletes were the highlight of the day, taking home two medals. Ariane Leonard (OM, Saint-Lambert, QC) and Cindy Gao (TFC, Toronto, ON) took silver and bronze respectively, and both lost their only bouts to the eventual gold winner, Catherine Nixon of the USA. Leonard won her semi-final bout against USA’s Sofia Komar, an exciting 11-10 win, to advance to the final against Nixon. Gao lost her semi-final bout to Nixon 14-11, giving her a bronze medal.   Shirley Wang (VGO, Toronto, ON) finished in 13^th place overall.

Canada narrowly missed another medal in men’s junior foil. Blake Broszus (Canadian living in the US) had a strong day, finishing in 5^th place after losing his quarter-final bout to Samuel Moelis of the USA.

Canada had three athletes in the top 16 in junior women’s sabre. Sisters, Veronique and Rachel Lamarre (SRN, Blainville, QC), as well as Madison Thurgood (SSC, Edmonton, AB) lost in the 16’s to finish 10^th, 11^th, and 13^th respectively.

Competition continues today with women’s foil, men’s epee and men’s sabre in action in junior individual competition. Please visit the CFF Facebook page for updates and photos from the event.

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